Dandelion in the Spring
by potionwine
Summary: Ouran set in The Hunger Games. In a game of life and death, Hitachiin Hikaru finds himself saddled with a silly blond boy with a heart of gold and a talent for ruining everything. [direct sequel to Here is the place]
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Dandelion in the Spring

**Characters:** Hikaru PoV. All named characters involved herein exist in the manga canon.

**Pairing(s):** Tamaki/Hikaru + other side pairings

**Rating:** T, or if you can read The Hunger Games, you can read this.

**Disclaimer:** Ouran High School Host Club belongs to Hatori Bisco and related companies. The Hunger Games belongs to Suzanne Collins and related companies.

**Spoilers:** The entire Hunger Games series even though no THG character will appear herein, hence why this is not a crossover. Also, you will find that it is much easier if you know the whole Ouran canon even though there are no specific spoilers given this is obviously AU.

This fic is a direct sequel to _**Here is the place**_.

**Dedication:** Thank you to the 12 of you who have read _Here is the place_ and left reviews and messages. All of your support means more to me than I can say, and sometimes it is the only thing keeping me going. This is for you – Purpleflower00, themostprofoundchild, PruePhantomhive, Victoria62015, Think. Analyze. BeYou, Rozafunk, Krisuvial, stole-my-pen, That's not punny, Wenxi, Kamili, and the person who left kind words as a Guest.

Finally, if it matters to any of you as a reader, I have finished the Ouran manga and anime in full, as well as all THG books and the available movie(s).

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* * *

**CHAPTER ONE**

_I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again._

_– Mockingjay_

A reconstructed Capitol city centre, to be exact. As it was in all its glory before the war, all buildings intact and roads clean and smooth. No debris, no corpses, no sign of any damage.

It is perfect, it is familiar, and it evokes in Hikaru a sickening rush of homesickness.

That was probably the intended effect, given how the other tributes' faces also show signs of deep sorrow and longing. For a moment they all seem to forget where they are and what this is, simply lost in the remnants of their old life.

Then slowly Hikaru's ears tune into the _doohm_, _doohm_, _doohm_ sound of the countdown ticking away the sixty seconds they have to orientate themselves to prepare to hit the ground running. Seventy-six of them stand equidistant from each other around the huge loop of Victory Parade. In the middle where there should have been the iconic towering memorial of the Capitol's victory over the Prefectures stands the Cornucopia instead, overflowing with lots of stuff. Hikaru frantically sweeps his eyes over whatever happens to be within his realm of vision – the wide array of items appear to be weapons and _only_ weapons. _Shit._

Games where the only provisions are weapons generally mean that everything else required for survival will be very scarce and a real pain to obtain. Think about it: the Cornucopia is a subsidy, an initial contribution to help the Tributes achieve their common objective of staying alive. If only killing is made easier by the Gamemakers... it's clear what sort of game they're in for.

The clock hits zero and Hikaru runs for it.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

He is one of the first to reach the Cornucopia.

It's not that he wants to join in the massacre. He's there for the knives or sharp tools that he knows he will need for foraging – things like slicing through thick fruit peels, preparing food and especially meat, cutting away cloth embedded in skin, or hacking through ropes and possibly even vines or foliage.

His left hand lands on the hilt of a sword; his right lands on a buckle attached to one end of a belt of five short daggers. He pulls those items to himself and turns to bail –

And comes face to face with sixteen-year-old Kuze Takeshi, armed with a spear and poised to plunge it into Hikaru's skull.

The two of them freeze, weapons raised but internally conflicted. _Should I strike? Should I strike?!_ The question hangs between them. Neither of them were brought up to be killers – they were brought up to be gentlemen, to excel in school, follow etiquette, marry well, produce heirs and uphold their family names.

Without taking his attention off Kuze, Hikaru tries to be mindful of the flurry of activity around him – several others also managed to get their hands on weapons, but _nobody is attacking_. They're all just standing around like a painting of a war scene, a tableau of people looking like they're fighting yet no one actually swinging at anyone else.

The impending violence is obvious, but so too is the hesitance. Hikaru understands why: because the person who attacks first will announce himself or herself as being fair game. Right now they're all still stuck in their lifelong civility and friendship, right now they are still the kids who attended school together. Anyone who attacks will signal that he or she has no qualms hurting the others, which means the rest will have no problems taking him or her out. The tenuous peace will shatter into all-out war, and none of them wants to take the responsibility. Especially not with all the watching families back home.

Kuze twitches, maybe in frustration. Instinct nearly causes Hikaru to slash at the older boy, but... even when personally desperate, it's so hard to murder people he's known for a decade or more.

"Stop!" someone yells. "Stop it, everyone!"

Hikaru stifles a groan. _Oh, great._

It seems Blondie has joined them at their horn of plenty at last, flinging himself right amongst the group of warring teenagers. Yes, _unarmed_.

_How stupid can he get?!_

"Everyone, listen!" he says urgently, hands up in surrender. "_Listen!_ We don't have to do this," he says pleadingly.

It prompts a litany of foul swears to run through Hikaru's head. He knows what Blondie is up to, and _it won't work_. Damn idiot is only going to get himself killed!

"We don't have to play this game," Blondie clarifies, continuing his brainless appeal. "We don't have to kill each other! We can work together! We can help each other!"

Except... he doesn't mean it like forming a Career pack. He doesn't mean 'work together' and 'help each other' like Career Tributes – he means it in terms of defying the rebels and the Gamemakers, and why he thinks he can get away with it or why he thinks this is _at all_ okay is totally, utterly beyond Hikaru.

He has the worst feeling that retribution will come swift and hard.

_Trust your instincts_, Mori-senpai always advised, and so Hikaru moves – flying straight towards Blondie like a deadly bullet, plowing into the other boy with enough force to throw the both of them backwards a good couple of metres.

Just enough to get them out of the radius of the minibomb that would have blown Blondie sky high where he stood.

It terrifies the rest into action and they scatter like a flock of frightened birds.

A pained sound emerges from beneath Hikaru, who is himself trying to regain his bearings. There is a smarting sensation at his back, and he suspects he has been wounded even before the Games have even properly begun.

It makes him furious, and the fury fuels him.

Pushing off Blondie in one fierce motion, Hikaru gathers up his items and flees.

He does not turn back even once.


End file.
